Reminder on rules around pubs ahead of warm weather weekend

We’d like to remind people of the situation surrounding pubs and licensed premises ahead of the warm weather this weekend.

Last week, the rules on whether pubs could sell alcohol at all changed a couple of times and the restrictions were at one point tightened to ban alcohol sales altogether.

The Government has since reversed that slightly.

This is the situation as of Friday, 3 April 2020:

• Pubs can only sell alcohol to customers on a strict takeaway basis – meaning people can still be served alcohol in carry out containers.
• However in order to do this, those pubs must have ‘off-sales’ included in the terms of their license.
• Pubs can also serve food on a takeaway basis if they already have a restaurant facility.
• Restaurants and cafes can continue to serve takeaway food only.

It is now against the Government-imposed restrictions for any pub, bar, club, restaurant or similar to open their doors for people to stay on the premises, including in beer gardens.

It may be tempting to try and find a place to drink with the warm weather predicted for this weekend.

But the message across our country is clear: stay home, protect the NHS, and save lives.

It is our duty to try and limit the spread of coronavirus and we would urge everyone to abide by the social distancing guidance.

Any licensee who fails to comply with the Government regulations and the terms of their license may be handed prohibition notices and potentially unlimited fines. They may also face the loss of their alcohol license.

We know that the vast majority of pub managers and licensees across Derbyshire are already abiding by the Government sanctions in the wake of COVID-19 and we would like to thank them.

We are also aware that some pubs have continued to open and our licensing teams, together with local authorities, are already gathering information about them. Those who flout the regulations may face unlimited fines and the potential revocation of their license further down the line.

We also want to reassure the public that we are taking their reports seriously.

By taking this action and abiding by the social restrictions instigated by the Government, we can all try and stop the further spread of the coronavirus.

Please stay home, and help us save countless lives together.